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This base was created in the 20’s (1915-1926?) by the French company De Laire. In the 1939 de Laire’s ‘Notice des produits pour la parfumerie’ (a perfumery products catalog for their customers) the Amber 83 is described as follows:

Translation: “The best product for oriental notes and ambery perfumes, very much enjoyed today.

Its subtlety, combined with much power and tenacity, easily explains the success it has achieved in many and very different uses, in France and abroad.
[…]
Nevertheless, its quite low softening point allows us moulding in small pieces of the same size, quite light in colour […]

It is interesting to notice how the original amber was sold in a solid form, pale in colour.
This may suggest that much of the formula were nitromusks, vanillin and maybe resinoids (like benzoin).

The sample I have is physically different.

Appearance: pale yellow, pourable liquid (DPG’s like viscosity). May form a crystallin precipitate in the cold. This is sort of a diluted version of the original base that I suppose was a yellowish solid.

This is the archetypal “amber” of perfumery. Nothing in common with the ambergris, the sperm whale secretion.
This one is based on vanillin or similar products (a heavy dose), powdery musks, some patchouli (but not earthy and terpy), sandalwood, balms (Tolu) and resins (labdanum, benzoin and styrax), plus a rosey, geranic note in the heart. Nutmeg and maybe cardamom lend some spiciness.
Everything is wrapped and smoothed out by the vanillin overdose. I also detect a civetty facet.Long lasting and musky, powdery, vanilla absolute-like in the drydown, The sharp, incensey labdanumsignature is still alive till the very end, discreetly.

A masterwork of balance, good structure, fine details, simplicity. Easy to recognize.

As almost any bases do, it needs incorporating into a fragrance, to give some boost and projection, especially in the very beginning. The high vanilla-musk dose is something that won’t come out easily, laying down close to the skin.

Here is a (solid) amber type formula from a 1931 book (Le livre du parfumeur – Félix Cola, chimiste-parfumeur), to give us an idea of the composition of such bases:

AMBRE SYNTHETIQUE N°3

Musk Kétone

425

grammes

Muscambrette

100

“

Héliotropine

75

“

Vanilline

225

“

Résinoïde de Benjoin

100

“

Baume de Tolu

75

“

Ambréine absolue

50

“

Résinoïde d’encens

50

“

Vétyvert Bourbon

10

“

Patchouly

10

“

Acétylisoeugénol

110

“

Stéarine

170

“

1400

grammes

Musk ambrette is now forbidden, but could be replaced by the flowery-type musk: ambrettolide, galaxolide or Romandolide (not powdery, but more ‘vegetal’ and clean in comparison to ancient musks, Romandolide in particular).
The ‘ambréine absolue’ is sort of a purified labdanum.
I don’t really know why stearin appears in the formula.

The still life in this photo was inspired by the Ambre 83 base. You can notice Tonka seeds, vanilla pods and geranium leafs. Photo: perfumechemicals.com

Medium smelling, sweet, powdery, milky, dry, typical vanilla odour, without any complexity, or dark shades. Useful in any composition. @ as little as .1%, whitout being perceptible as a single note it rounds off and mellows any fragrance.